dinomyte

Maybe you should change your name to "Miser E". Oh come on, it's as good a suggestion as half the others! Good luck.

Yeah, but I'm already ripped too! So no needs da juice!

No worries....I should set the stage... As I said, I overshot the landing zone....literally. I'm one of those people who lands and immediately slows heelside, but since I expected to land earlier, I was rotating in that direction already. To compensate, I kinda leaned forward, and so I basically landed on my ass sort of performing a crunch to the forward and right. Took me about 10 minutes to get up. I managed it down to a lift and then up top. When I got off it took me about 15 minutes to bend over far enough to strap in. Then I rode down. I actually went to the med hut and had them take a look, as I couldn't breathe more than halfway in without serious pain. The measured 02, blood pressure, the typical stuff and suggested that I hit the emergency room. I went to an urgent care facility in Bend. The gist - nothing broken, but the doc diagnosed costochondritis. Gave me painkillers and anti-inflammatory, and said if I did nothing it should go away in 2-3 weeks. (She said it was likely that I damaged 2-3 joints there between the cartilage and bone, but in the joints closer to my side as opposed to the center of my chest.) Well, I started back to jogging and lifting too soon probably. It still pains me now and again, and its been 4 weeks. I cant do any abdominal exercises (or too much triceps interestingly) or I think I'm gonna die. But, I can tell it's getting better. Probably another week or two to 100%, I hope!!

Thanks, but I've grown too attached to my testicles. Or, my ability to produce children....or something....

Interesting Bill.... In various jobs that I've had over the years I have been forced to speak to the press. I can't count the number of times I've been misquoted, and I can count on one hand the number of times I think the press presented a clear unbiased summary including my comments. Still, this forum is unique. It is damn difficult to communicate sarcasm via an email or post, as the reader cannot hear intonation or see expression or body language. For that reason, I personally avoid saying things like "Maybe everyone should have to pass a test before climbing." Could be sarcasm, but hard to tell. And, I particularly avoid saying things like, "Hell, you don't need a rope to climb Jeff" becuase not only is the sarcasm difficult to detect, but you are potentially giving bad advice to someone who might take you seriously. It's in this area, that I feel we do have a responsibility, even though there are always those who state the obvious, "Climbing is dangerous..." and noting that everyone should do the homework. I'll continue to state my opinion on here, even if it's unpopular, but I try not to spout pure incessant bullshit, here or anywhere.

It is interesting how different ski resorts build jumps, and I do think that some do significantly better than others. At SkiBowl, in one particular area, they had one large jump with several "medium" ones. I must have hit that 20 times, and never once could I get up enough speed to hit the landing area. I proabably saw 3 people land it all day. Nobody got hurt, that I saw, but it was odd to have such different sizes in a single run. At Bachelor, I about slaughtered myself on a jump that had an incredibly steep high take-off and a disproportionately short (close) landing. I must have cleared the landing by a good ten feet, and obviously dropped a looooong way to the ground. Costochondritis hurts, and even Vicodin doesn't totally relieve the pain. Obviously, a lot of my fault, but if I were laying out and building these jumps I think I would consider a few additional factors.

I can't always get out to the hills. I'm married, so in theory, I can have sex anytime I want. In practice......

I also learned a lesson, courtesy of those 5 guys on Hood: Posting a serious question when everyone is debating the smarts of a group in trouble on Hood yields very few responses!

Wow.....that's it exactly!!

Thought I'd give everyone an update. Though there were some great, and not-so-great, suggestions, we went with Aspen. Not for the town, but more for the trees. We were in Utah when my wife was pregnant, and the leaves were turning.

I think what these folks are trying to say is the same as the old "calculator" argument. It's fine to use a calculator to quickly multiply 236 by 341, just know how to do it without one! A GPS can actually help, even if you know little about maps and compasses. But isn't it better to know both?

If he bought Garmin like me it was 25% off. The 20% coupons never apply to GPS! Ha!

This one's bound to get a ton of replies. My comments.... I just bought a GPS last week and tested it in the hills on Saturday. Worked like a charm with no topo loaded. My topo was in my pocket, where i like to keep it until I need it. I may be misunderstanding the post, but I wouldn't be navigating to the summit with waypoints, but they've helped on the way out. I try to get as good a route map/description as I can (from books, this site, etc.) and if I find myself somewhere that I don't recognize or am not comfortable with, I turn my ass around. I also set a drop-dead turn around time. I've had a GPS less than a week, and I learned to set waypoints first thing. I also never go to the hills without knowing the skills of my partners. That said, I'm glad to hear that all is well and that lessons were learned. We should note the "TraditionalMountaineering" theme and try to learn from these, rather than point fingers.

You are correct. I hiked from Pole Creek and followed this route: I think I stopped about where I should start looking for that entrance to the west face. I even thought I saw a little 3-stone cairn but I'm not sure. Your note about the traverse and bowling alley is just what I thought from previous research. Thanks for the beta. We're planning on this Saturday, dark and early, weather permitting.

It does, and thanks. I don't have the book, but a climbing buddy of mine does, so no prob there. We may head over there this weekend, and just wanted any personal insights anyone could offer, as neither of us have been on this one before.

I was up on North on 5/12. It looked like so from what I think is the Camel's Hump: Snow was pretty solid at 9800 feet. Question for you folks who have been up there: Is it at the Camel's Hump that you begin to drop down to climber's left to start the Traverse? Anybody have any photos from the beginning of the Traverse? I woulda ventured further, but just didn't feel like committing!

I don't know a ton about fishing practices but, other than farming, I would say there is probably a pretty significant margin of error when calculating a sustainable supply of wild fish. I took an Resource Econometrics class in grad school focused on measuring things like fish stocks, oil supplies, etc. All I can say is HOLY SHIT, that's pretty tough to accurately measure. Of course, one would assume that those trawlers can scoop up more fish in a few minutes than are hatched in that same period of time. But hey, gas prices don't keep some from driving. I probably won't stop eating sushi!

Let's face it, the hottest climbing chick is probably an amalgam: Archenemy's bruised left knee, Sherri's arms, Minx's brains and belaying abilities (apparently!), etc.

I have several peaks in Washington on my list for this season, and realize that access to several is going to be a problem. Among the summits on my list are Rainier, Olympus, Shuksan, Glacier, Baker, and Stuart. And, I'll be interested in the Dog routes, to the extent there is one! Can anyone comment on the likely status of the approach for any one of these? No offense, but saying "Hwy whatever will be closed" won't help me much. Saying "Hwy whatever, which leads to this particular trailhead, which is the starting point of that route" will! Or perhaps, saying, "the closest accessible TH is this" would help. Thanks in advance.

Why would you wanna climb with a gal? After all, according to another thread, there aren't any hot ones anyway. I believe everything I read on the web!

Come on guys. Wait till September when it looks like the pile of rubbles that it is!

bstach, this one was from the top of Three Fingered Jack, OR.

We're probably at that "Beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder" point! But, seriously, there's a big difference between beautiful and attractive. I'm not sure exactly where "hot" falls. I hiked Adams a few years back with a gal who had tattoos on her neck and practically jogged up the mountain with 50 lbs on her back, including her board. Maybe not beautiful, but damn attractive!!

"With the birds I'll share this lonely view."

I also like: K2 Telemark...If it was easy, it would be called snowboarding. And I snowboard.